This investment is one of the largest in naval communications across Europe.
The announcement for Maritime Communications Capability Support (MCCS) secures around 100 high skilled UK jobs sustained.
The MCCS arrangement replaces the previous Fleetwide Communications contract which Thales UK has overseen for the past seven years.
Thales UK will also provide “waterfront” office services, obsolescence recovery for aging equipment and inventory management, ensuring spare part availability and ongoing defect repairs as required.
A key element to the contract is the slashing of red tape through closer collaboration between DE&S, the Royal Navy, and Thales UK, effectively delivering a “one defense” team which massively reduces bureaucracy while boosting efficiency. Thales UK is awarded the freedoms and autonomy to make informed decisions on equipment replacement to sustain capability long-term to the benefit of the Royal Navy.
Commodore Phil Game, Director of Sense, Decide & Communicate at DE&S, said: “First and foremost, this announcement ensures the Royal Navy continues to have effective and secure communications equipment with continuous support from Thales, which has Europe’s largest team of marine communications engineers, supporting its vital work keeping the UK and our allies safe. Crucially, we have looked at outcomes from other successful defense programs and applied the lessons learned from those, in particular cutting unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy allowing Thales much more freedom to get the job done. We estimate that the scope of this contract will save between £25m and £30m in through life costs to the Royal Navy over the 10-year support period by working in a much more collaborative way with Thales UK, underlining our ‘one defense’ philosophy.”
Phil Siveter, CEO Thales in the UK, said: “At Thales we are delighted to continue supporting the Royal Navy in its vital mission to protect our nation. This long-term fleetwide support framework reflects our unwavering commitment to ensuring the Royal Navy remains combat-ready and equipped with world-class communications capabilities, today and into the future. Building on seven years of trusted partnership, we are proud to provide the technical excellence and on-the-ground support that keeps ships, submarines and installations operational and mission-ready. By working as ‘one team’ across the Naval Enterprise, we are driving innovation and systems integration to place the Royal Navy at the cutting edge of defense technology for the next decade.”
